Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Barnard, Judi Billing, Gary Grindal, Simon Harwood, Ben Lewis, Janine Paterson, Deepak Sangha, Val Shanley and Terry Tyler.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Barnard, Judi Billing, Gary Grindal, Simon Harwood, Ben Lewis, Janine Paterson, Deepak Sangha, Val Shanley and Terry Tyler.

To take as read and approve as a true record the Minutes of the Annual meeting of the Council held on 17 May 2018.

RESOLVED: That, subject to Councillor Helen Oliver’s name being corrected in the list of those present and the penultimate sentence of Minute 2 being amended to read “Councillor John Bishop then read and signed the Statutory Declaration of Acceptance of Office and the Chairman (Councillor Alan Millard) placed the chain of office upon him.”, the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 17 May 2018 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

It was moved by Councillor Lynda Needham, seconded by Councillor Julian Cunningham, and

RESOLVED: That, subject to Councillor Helen Oliver’s name being corrected in the list of those present and the penultimate sentence of Minute 2 being amended to read “Councillor John Bishop then read and signed the Statutory Declaration of Acceptance of Office and the Chairman (Councillor Alan Millard) placed the chain of office upon him.”, the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 17 May 2018 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

Members should notify the Council of other business which they wish to be discussed by the Cabinet at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chairman will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

No additional business was presented for consideration by the Council.

No additional business was presented for consideration by the Council.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wished to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)       Long Service Awards

The Chairman paid tribute to Mark Scanes and Christina Corr, each of whom had each worked for the Council for 25 years or more.

(2)       Declarations of Interest

The Chairman reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

RESOLVED: That the Council places on record its sincere thanks to Mark Scanes and Christina Corr for their long and valuable service to local government in North Hertfordshire.

(1)       Long Service Awards

The Chairman paid tribute to Mark Scanes and Christina Corr, each of whom had each worked for the Council for 25 years or more as follows:

(i)        Mark Scanes

25 years ago, Mark joined the Council as an Enforcement Officer in the then Legal and Administration Department. In 1990 he was “poached” by the Revenues and Benefits Service and joined as a Recovery Officer as part of an expanded Team to deal with the implementation of the Community Charge.

In 1992, Mark decided on a career change and became a management trainee, where, through his studies, he became an active member of the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation where he served a term as Branch Chairman.

Mark’s next move was to become our Business Rates expert and he was heavily involved in the migration of the Rating system from the old mainframe platform to UNIX in 1998.

Mark’s organisational and management skills were put to good use in the lead up to the Transfer of the Council’s Housing Stock to North Hertfordshire Homes in 2003, when he carried out the role of Project Manager.

Having shown his aptitude for working with systems, Mark became Systems and Technical Manager in 2002 and as such he is responsible for the management of Revenues and Benefits application systems, including implementation of modules and upgrades, ensuring the system’s integrity and management of the annual billing process, which produces around 57,000 Council Tax Bills, and over 4,000 Business Rates Bills, with a combined collectable debit of over £140M and around 8,000 Benefit calculations.

Mark’s other main area of responsibility is the Income Management System, which administers all the Council’s incoming payments. Mark is also responsible for completing the department’s statutory returns, the most important of which is the annual Housing Benefit Subsidy Return, which is then subjected to intense scrutiny by external auditors.

Mark has been instrumental in developing multiple payment options for the Council’s customers, including payments using swipe cards, Debit and Credit Cards as well as promoting more traditional methods such as Direct Debit, where now the Council collects 80% of its Council Tax by Direct Debit, which has significantly reduced collection costs.

Mark is active at National User Groups, serving on the Northgate Revenues Product Group and he is Chairman of the CIVICA National and Strategic Working User Group.

Mark is a very active and valued member of the Team and his work over the years has significantly benefitted both customers and the Council.

(ii)       Christina Corr

Christina began her career at NHDC on 11 September 1989 as a Benefit Assistant.  Her progression to Benefits Assessor came within a few months.

As the Revenues and Benefits service merged Christina was asked to head Benefits Verification team. Christina lead the introduction of the software that allows Benefits Officers to access the Department of Work and Pension website to help speed up decision making on Housing Benefit applications

In 2001 Christina moved into the Systems and Technical Team as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

To receive petitions and presentations from members of the public.

The Council was addressed by Mrs Kay Tart, Co-Founder of Hitchin Parents Against School Cuts.

            The Chairman thanked Mrs Tart for her presentation.

The Council was addressed by Mrs Kay Tart, Co-Founder of Hitchin Parents Against School Cuts.

Ms Tart thanked the Chairman for allowing her the opportunity to make this presentation.

She advised that Hitchin Parents Against School Cuts was a non-party political action group set up in response to the Government cuts to the education budget and stated:

We are parents of children at Purwell Primary school and we were first made aware of the detrimental effect of the decrease in funding in our local school when our Headteacher sent a letter home last year to let us know about the changes that we would notice as a result of this.

Following the recent publication of an article in the Comet in which secondary school Headteachers from Hitchin and North Hertfordshire had spoken out, concerned about the cuts and the need for action, we decided to establish this group to raise awareness of the serious effects of the funding cuts, and to express our concerns about the very real and current impact on school staff and children.

We formed our group just over four weeks ago and in the first two weeks, we gathered more than 1200 members in our Facebook group, a membership consisting of local parents, grandparents, carers and others in our community, including school staff.

Our group has the following aims:

1.       To hold events to help spread awareness of the serious impact the funding cuts are having on our local schools.

2.       To speak up in support of school staff and school leaders from schools in Hitchin, North Hertfordshire and across the country.

3.       To generate support and involvement from parents, grandparents, carers, school leaders, teachers and support staff and anyone else who opposes the Government cuts to the education budget.

4.       To advocate for the education budget to be restored, so that schools receive the funding they need to support every child.

We believe that parents are a powerful voice in the campaign against school funding cuts, and we stand in support of teachers, school leaders, our children and grandchildren and their schools.

We have been encouraged by the depth of feeling and the number of parents in our community who feel as we do about the effects of the Government cuts.

The support and interest in our group has developed rapidly, and our group grows daily.

As part of our united action, we have contacted all the headteachers in Hitchin, both primary and secondary, advertising a number of upcoming events, and inviting parents from their schools to get involved. The response has been very positive.

The first of these events was an Action Day with a market stall in Hitchin town square on Saturday 14th July, during which we spoke to members of the public to raise awareness and to build further support. We collected over 300 signatures on a petition asking our MP, Mr Bim Afolami, to bring this issue further up the political agenda and have since launched this petition online, where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Chairman of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee will present to the Council a referral from the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee regarding the Committee’s Annual Report 2017/18.

RESOLVED: That the Annual Report of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee 2017/18 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with the requirements of the Council’s Constitution.

The Council considered the Minute of the meeting of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee held on 18 June 2018, in respect of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee Annual Report 2017/18. A copy of the report considered by the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee was included with the agenda.

The Chairman of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee (Councillor Hone) presented the report.

He advised Members of the role of the Committee, which had statutory functions such as to approve the Council’s Statement of Accounts and the Annual Governance Statement and the Committee has the opportunity to challenge the financial risks of the Authority.

He thanked the Members and Substitutes of the Committee for their participation in the work of the Committee.

The report included an extensive list of items that they had considered during the year demonstrating that their responsibilities were quite extensive, with some referrals made to Cabinet and onto Council.

It was moved by Councillor Hone, seconded by Councillor McNally and

RESOLVED: That the Annual Report of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee 2017/18 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with the requirements of the Council’s Constitution.

To consider a referral from Cabinet regarding Risk Management Update and Annual Repot on Risk Management 2017/18.

RESOLVED: That the Annual Report on Risk and Opportunities Management 2017/18, as set out at Appendix B to the report, be approved.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To comply with the Risk and Opportunities Management Strategy, which stipulates that an Annual Risk Management report is taken to Council.

The Council considered the Minute of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 19 June 2018, in respect of the Risk Management Update and Annual Report on Risk Management 2017/18. A copy of the report considered by the Cabinet was included with the agenda, as were the following appendices:

Appendix A - Corporate Risks

Appendix B - Annual Report on Risk Management 2017-18

The Executive Member for Finance and IT (Councillor Cunningham) introduced the report. He advised that Council was being asked to approve the Risk and Opportunities management report for 2017/18 and drew attention to the following:

The Council had a long standing formal approach to the identification and management of Risk in our operations with the most recent iteration of this approach being the Risk and Opportunities Management Strategy 2017/2020. This strategy required an annual report to Council on the operation of the system.

All managers within the Council were responsible for the proper identification and management of the risks and opportunities relevant to their operations and the system was overseen by the Controls, Risk and Performance Manager and the Risk Management Group.

Reports on the operation of the system wee received quarterly by the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee who referred changes and issues to Cabinet.

This report covered the following areas:

Section 3

Outlined changes to the major corporate risks during the year and the resultant actions taken.

Section 4

Highlighted the general approach to managing these risks.

Section 5

Covered the way in which the Council mitigated some of the risk through insurance and identified changes to the nature of our insurance during the year.

Section 6

Was an important section covering business continuity plans and was especially apposite during the year under review as the Council transferred its main operations from Town Lodge back to the DCO.

It was intended to update the resilience plan during the coming months now that this transfer was complete.

Section 7

Noted a couple of Health and Safety issues arising as part of the transfer of staff back to DCO that had since been addressed.

Sections 8 and 9

Considered the recommendations of SIAS as part of their review of the functioning of the service during 2016/17.

One of these, relating to the review of the structure of the Risk Management Group, remained outstanding, but would now be dealt with following the completion of the Senior Management Restructure.

Risk Management was critical to the effective management of any organisation and the Council had an effective Risk Management regime in place.

It was moved by Councillor Julian Cunningham, and seconded by Councillor Lynda Needham, that the recommendations contained in the report be approved.

Following debate, and upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED: That the Annual Report on Risk and Opportunities Management 2017/18, as set out at Appendix B to the report, be approved.

REASON FOR DECISION:  To comply with the Risk and Opportunities Management Strategy, which stipulates that an Annual Risk Management report is taken to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

To consider a referral from Cabinet regarding Revenue Budget Outturn 2017/18.

RESOLVED: That the net transfer to earmarked reserves of £1.070 million, as identified in Table 7 of the report, be approved.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that changes to the Council’s balances are monitored and approved.

The Council considered the Minute of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 19 June 2018, in respect of the Revenue Budget Outturn 2017/18. A copy of the report considered by the Cabinet was included with the agenda.

The Executive Member for Finance and IT (Councillor Cunningham) introduced the report.

He advised that Cabinet approved the decrease in the final budget for the year of £422,000.

Cabinet also agreed to an increase in the budget set for 2018/19 of £346,000, largely made up of items carried forward from last year together with some relatively small variances on the original budget estimates for the year.

He assured members that Cabinet was concerned always about carry forward requests as was the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. Such requests were only authorised where Cabinet were satisfied that robust plans were in place to utilise the monies allocated.

The tables contained in the report were only those identified during the current reporting period and Table 1 on page 44 identified adjustments that had previously been agreed.

It was for Council to approve the transfer of £1.070m (net) to earmarked reserves and the major items contributing to this transfer were various government grants covering the payment of Housing and Council Tax reliefs and Homelessness. These were essentially funds that come and go through the reserve and the actual amounts held were largely down to timing differences between the time received and time paid out.

The only specific item was the £400,000 net increase in the Housing Planning Delivery Reserve. This was largely monies transferred from planning application fees received and was held against the costs of future work on the delivery of our local plan and dealing with appeals against planning decisions. Cabinet were of the view that it was necessary to build up this reserve as we go through the local plan process to ensure that we were best placed to facilitate actual delivery.

It was moved by Councillor Julian Cunningham, seconded by Councillor Lynda Needham, and following brief debate, and upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED: That the net transfer to earmarked reserves of £1.070 million, as identified in Table 7 of the report, be approved.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that changes to the Council’s balances are monitored and approved.

To consider a referral from Cabinet regarding Annual Treasury Management Review 2017/18.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the actual 2017/18 prudential and treasury indicators be approved; and

(2)       That the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2017/18 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION:To ensure the Council’s continued compliance with CIPFA’s Code of Practice on Treasury Management and the Local Government Act 2003 and that the Council manages its exposure to interest and capital risk.

The Council considered the Minute of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 19 June 2018, in respect of Annual Treasury Management Review. A copy of the report considered by the Cabinet was included with the agenda, as was the following appendix:

Appendix A - Annual Treasury Management Review 2017-18

The Executive Member for Finance and IT (Councillor Cunningham) introduced the report.

He advised that it was part of the governance regime laid down by CIPFA that the Council was required to adopt a Treasury Management Report each year and to regularly report to Council regarding the operation of the adopted code and this was the final report for 2017/18.

The main highlights of the report wee set out in the executive summary.

He assured Members that steps had been taken to avoid the recurrence of the minor breaches identified at Paragraph 1.3 of the report.

Much of the report followed a defined format and was concerned with Council’s borrowing requirement and debt position.

Other than some minor historic borrowing, the Council had no outside debts and was still in possession of capital that could be used to fund its activities, mainly from the transfer of the Council’s housing stock and the sale of various assets over the years, hence there was a negative capital financing requirement.

The generality of the treasury operation was unchanged from previous years, with funds available being invest in banks and building societies and some amounts in other Local Authorities.

Rigorous steps were taken to ensure to check the credit worthiness of other local authorities.

These investments were also primarily short term, although the Council did have some funds invested for long periods.

Whilst this report was largely technical, as the Council’s position changed and borrowing became more prevalent, the input into this report would be very different, as the Government had, along with CIPFA, introduced further requirements into this code

It was moved by Councillor Julian Cunningham, and seconded by Councillor Lynda Needham, that the recommendations contained in the report be approved.

Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the actual 2017/18 prudential and treasury indicators be approved; and

(2)       That the Annual Treasury Management Report for 2017/18 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION:To ensure the Council’s continued compliance with CIPFA’s Code of Practice on Treasury Management and the Local Government Act 2003 and that the Council manages its exposure to interest and capital risk.

To confirm the amendments made to the Council’s Constitution under delegated decision and consider some further proposed minor amendments.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the amendments made under delegated decision (with the agreement of the Leader) that came into effect on 1 June 2018 (as per Appendix A) be noted;

(2)       That the further minor amendments at paragraph 8.3 of the report be agreed.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: To ensure the Council meets its statutory obligations and continues to improve its working practices.

The Council considered the report of the Service Director - Legal and Community and Monitoring Officer in respect of Council Constitution (Confirmation of Amendments) and Further Minor Proposed Changes. The following appendix was submitted with the report:

Appendix A – Delegated Decision 31 May 2018

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Needham) introduced the report.

She advised that this report followed on from the Annual Review report considered by Council on 10 April 2018.

It had been agreed that minor amendments associated with the Senior Management Restructure would be completed under delegated powers, since then further minor amendments were required, as detailed in Paragraph 8.3 of the report.

It was moved by Councillor Lynda Needham, and seconded by Councillor Julian Cunningham, that the recommendations contained in the report be approved.

Following brief debate, and upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the amendments made under delegated decision (with the agreement of the Leader) that came into effect on 1 June 2018 (as per Appendix A) be noted;

(2)       That the further minor amendments at paragraph 8.3 of the report be agreed.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS: To ensure the Council meets its statutory obligations and continues to improve its working practices.

To consider any questions submitted by Members of the Council, in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.11 (b).

Members submitted questions on the following:

(A)     Waste Contract

(B)     Rail Services

(C)    Air Quality

The following questions were unsuccessful in the ballot, and will be dealt with by way of a written response from the Executive Members to all Members of the Council:

14/15 Brand Street, Hitchin

Parking Enforcement

In accordance with Standing Order 4.8.11(b), five questions were submitted by Members by the deadline date for questions set out in the Council’s Constitution.

In accordance with Standing Order 4.8.11(f) – Maximum Number of Questions:

“A Member may ask only one question under 4.8.11(b) or 4.8.11(c) except with the consent of the Chairman of the Council, committee or sub-committee. The maximum number of questions that may be asked at any meeting of the Full Council is three. If there are multiple parts, then each will be treated as an individual question for the purposes of this Rule and if the number of questions exceeds three the questions to be asked shall be determined by ballot to be conducted by the Proper Officer. Any outstanding questions unable to be asked should be addressed in writing to the Proper Officer for a written response to be provided to all Members.”

Accordingly, a ballot was conducted on 13 July 2018 and the three questions set out below were selected at random.  In accordance with the Constitution, written answers will be provided to all Members in respect of the questions that were unsuccessful in the ballot.

(A)    Waste Contract

In accordance with Standing Order 4.8.11(b), the following question had been submitted by Councillor Lisa Nash to Councillor Michael Weeks (Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment):

“What does the Council plan to do after the 3 month start up period of the waste contract should the delivery of the contract still be unsatisfactory?”

Councillor Weeks replied that, after the three month start up period, Council would be enforcing the performance monitoring framework in the contract.

This would result in performance related deductions where the contractor failed to meet performance targets.

The Council would also explore enforcing contractual remedies outside the performance monitoring framework.

Officers would take advice and guidance from Legal Services, because it was important to ensure that the Council acted lawfully and secured the best outcomes for the District.

As with all contractual problems, the Council would evaluate all the options, and this would include balancing factors such as costs, risks, effectiveness, legality and timescales.

In the meanwhile, the Council continued to work with the contractor to resolve the current issues.

As a supplementary question, Councillor Nash asked:

“How would this be reported back to Council?”.

Councillor Weeks asked the Monitoring officer to respond on his behalf.

The Monitoring Officer advised that issues would try to be resolved within the contractual dispute resolution mechanism within the contract. It was unlikely that this was something that would be reported in public, and if a report was necessary, it would likely be Part 2.

Councillor Needham pointed out that this was a joint contract and as such we would have to ensure that our partners were kept informed as well as Members of this Council.

(B)    Rail Services

In accordance with Standing Order 4.8.11(b), the following question had been submitted by Councillor Steve Jarvis to Councillor David Levett (Executive Member for Planning, Enterprise and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

To consider any motions, due notice of which have been given in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12.

(A)    Plastic Free Letchworth

RESOLVED:

That this Council supports the principle of an initiative entitled “Plastic Free Letchworth”, which is committed to plastic free alternatives, to be extended to include any other Towns or areas in North Herts without the matter needing to be the subject of a separate resolution, should any other areas wish to subscribe to such an initiative.

In agreeing such a motion, it is noted that such an initiative would have no specific cost implications for the Council.

Further, it approves the nomination of a Member to the Letchworth Strategic Group, once this has been established (subject to the normal governance checks with the body prior to this being confirmed).

(B)    Single Use Plastics

RESOLVED:

That the Chief Executive be instructed to produce an action plan to:

a)      Minimise the Council's use of plastics and to eliminate the use of single use plastics and replace with sustainable alternatives by 2022.

b)      Request all of the council's suppliers and contractors to remove single use plastics from their products and packaging as soon as possible.

c)      Work with local businesses and retailers to

1.       eliminate the use of single use plastic within the local authority area

2.       reduce the use of plastic in packaging and work towards the removal of plastic from packaging

3.       encourage them to require their suppliers to remove plastic from their products and from packaging.

The Council will also work with other public bodies and large employers to inform people of the environmental damage caused by plastics and promoting the reasons for using the alternatives.

(C)    Rail Users

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Helen Oliver declared that she would be chairing the Rail Users Group meeting on 19 July 2018. Having sought advice, this was not such as to prevent her from taking part in the debate and vote as she was not a member of that group.

RESOLVED:

That this Council recognises the continued problems residents are facing travelling on the rail network through the District. It is unacceptable that passengers have suffered two months of disruption. It welcomes the work of the local Rail Users Groups to highlight the issues and will continue to work with them to achieve a satisfactory resolution.

This Council agrees to continue to lobby all local MPs, the Department for Transport, Network Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway to ensure rapid progress towards an acceptable level of service.

(D)    Garden Waste

RESOLVED:

That Council notes that those residents who have paid for the garden waste collection service did not initially receive the service for which they paid.

That Council commits to consideration of appropriate redress to reflect this.

(E)     Education Funding

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Kate Aspinwall declared an interest in that she worked for Herts for Learning who were directly affected by this issue.

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Val Bryant declared an interest in that she was a teacher at Knights Templar School, Baldock, who were directly affected by  ...  view the full decision text for item 31.

(A)      Plastic Free Letchworth

Due notice having been given in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12, it was moved by Councillor Michael Weeks and seconded by Councillor Lynda Needham:

“That this Council pass a motion which supports the principle of an initiative entitled “Plastic Free Letchworth”, which is committed to plastic free alternatives, to be extended to include any other Towns or areas in North Herts without the matter needing to be the subject of a separate resolution, should any other areas wish to subscribe to such an initiative.

In agreeing such a motion, it is noted that such an initiative would have no specific cost implications for the Council.

Further, the motion seeks the approval to nominate a Member to the Letchworth Strategic Group, once this has been established (subject to the normal governance checks with the body prior to this being confirmed).”

Following debate and upon being put to the vote, it was:

RESOLVED:

That this Council supports the principle of an initiative entitled “Plastic Free Letchworth”, which is committed to plastic free alternatives, to be extended to include any other Towns or areas in North Herts without the matter needing to be the subject of a separate resolution, should any other areas wish to subscribe to such an initiative.

In agreeing such a motion, it is noted that such an initiative would have no specific cost implications for the Council.

Further, it approves the nomination of a Member to the Letchworth Strategic Group, once this has been established (subject to the normal governance checks with the body prior to this being confirmed).

(B)       Single Use Plastics

Due notice having been given in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12, it was moved by Councillor Sam Collins and seconded by Councillor Paul Clark that:

“Council Instructs the Chief Executive to produce an action plan to:

a)      Minimise the Council's use of plastics and to eliminate the use of single use plastics by the end of 2019.

b)      Require all of the council's suppliers and contractors to remove single use plastics from their products and packaging as soon as possible, but within 5 years.

c)      Work with local businesses and retailers to

1.       eliminate the use of single use plastic within the local authority area

2.       reduce the use of plastic in packaging and work towards the removal of plastic from packaging

3.       encourage them to require their suppliers to remove plastic from their products and from packaging.

We also call on the Council to work with other public bodies and large employers to inform people of the environmental damage caused by plastics and promoting the reasons for using the alternatives.”

It was moved by Councillor Michael Weeks and seconded by Councillor Lynda Needham that Part A of the motion be amended to read:

“Minimise the Council's use of plastics and to eliminate the use of single use plastics and replace with sustainable alternatives as soon as possible.”

Following debate and upon being put to the vote, the amendment to Part A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.